| 1. |
- Balk, Lennart, et al.
(author)
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Wild birds of declining European species are dying from a thiamine deficiency syndrome.
- 2009
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In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 106:29, s. 12001-12006
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Wild birds of several species are dying in large numbers from an idiopathic paralytic disease in the Baltic Sea area. Here, we demonstrate strong relationships between this disease, breeding failure, and thiamine (vitamin B(1)) deficiency in eggs, pulli, and full-grown individuals. Thiamine is essential for vertebrates, and its diphosphorylated form functions as a cofactor for several life sustaining enzymes, whereas the triphosphorylated form is necessary for the functioning of neuronal membranes. Paralyzed individuals were remedied by thiamine treatment. Moreover, thiamine deficiency and detrimental effects on thiamine-dependent enzymes were demonstrated in the yolk, liver, and brain. We propose that the mortality and breeding failure are part of a thiamine deficiency syndrome, which may have contributed significantly to declines in many bird populations during the last decades.
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| 2. |
- De Graeve, Diana, et al.
(author)
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Equity in the delivery of health care in Europe and the US
- 2000
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In: Journal of health economics. - : Elsevier B.V. - 1879-1646 .- 0167-6296. ; 19:5, s. 553-583
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper presents a comparison of horizontal equity in health care utilization in 10 European countries and the US. It does not only extend previous work by using more recent data from a larger set of countries, but also uses new methods and presents disaggregated results by various types of care. In all countries, the lower-income groups are more intensive users of the health care system. But after indirect standardization for need differences, there is little or no evidence of significant inequity in the delivery of health care overall, though in half of the countries, significant pro-rich inequity emerges for physician contacts. This seems to be due mainly to a higher use of medical specialist services by higher-income groups and a higher use of GP care among lower-income groups. These findings appear to be fairly general and emerge in countries with very diverse characteristics regarding access and provider incentives.
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| 4. |
- Gerdtham, Ulf-G, et al.
(author)
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Equity in the delivery of health care in Sweden
- 1998
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In: SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL MEDICINE. - : SCANDINAVIAN UNIVERSITY PRESS. - 0300-8037. ; 26:4, s. 259-264
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- There is mutual agreement that health care should be delivered according to need. In this article, although we employ different specifications for need, we conclude that there is inequity in the delivery of health care in Sweden. Higher income groups visi
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| 6. |
- Gerdtham, Ulf-G, Sundberg, Gun
(author)
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Sjukvårdens rättvisa fördelning
- 1997
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In: Ekonomisk Debatt. - : Nationalekonomiska föreningen. ; 25:7, s. 305-306
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)
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| 10. |
- Karlsson, Jenny, et al.
(author)
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Hazard identification of contaminated sites-ranking potential toxicity of organic sediment extracts in crustacean and fish
- 2008
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In: Journal of Soils and Sediments. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1439-0108 .- 1614-7480. ; 8:4, s. 263-274
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background, aim, and scope It is well known that contaminated sediments represent a potential long-term source of pollutants to the aquatic environment. To protect human and ecosystem health, it is becoming common to remediate contaminated sites. However, the great cost associated with,e.g., dredging in combination with the large numbers of contaminated sites makes it crucial to pinpoint those sites that are in greatest need of remediation. In most European countries, this prioritization process has almost exclusively been based on chemical analyses of known substances; only seldom toxicity data has been considered. The main objective of the current study was therefore to develop a tool for hazard identification of sediment by ranking potential toxicity of organic sediment extracts in a crustacean and a fish. A secondary objective was to investigate the difference in potential toxicity between compoundswith different polarities. Materials and methods Early life stages of the crustacean Nitocra spinipes and the fish Oncorhynchus mykiss, which represent organisms from different trophic levels (primary and secondary consumer) and with different routes of exposure(i.e., ingestion through food, diffusive uptake, and maternal transfer), were exposed to hexane and acetone fractions(semi-polar compounds) of sediment from five locations,ranging from heavily to low contaminated. Preliminary tests showed that the extracts were non-bioavailable to the crustacean when exposed via water, and the extracts were therefore loaded on silica gel. Rainbow trout embryos were exposed using nano-injection technique. Results and discussion Clear concentration–response relationships of both mortality and larval development were observed in all tests with N. spinipes. Also for rainbow trout,the observed effects (e.g., abnormality, hemorrhage, asymmetric yolk sac) followed a dose-related pattern. Interestingly, our results indicate that some of the locations contained toxic semi-polar compounds, which are normally not considered in risk assessment of sediment since they are focused on compounds isolated in the hexane fraction. Conclusions The ranking of the five sediments followed the expected pattern of potential toxicity in both organisms, i.e.,sediments with known pollution history caused major effects while reference sediments caused minor effects in the two test systems. Silica gel turned out to be an excellent carrier for exposure of N. spinipes to very hydrophobic and otherwise non-bioavailable sediment extracts. Recommendations and perspectives Since both test systems demonstrated that a substantial part of the potential toxicity was caused by semi-polar compounds in the acetone fractions,this study enlightens our poor understanding of which compounds are causing adverse effects in environmental samples. Therefore, by investigating potential toxicity (i.e., hazard identification) as a first screening step in prioritizing processes,these implications could be avoided. For proper sediment risk assessment, we however recommend whole sediment toxicity tests to be used for selected sites at following tiers.
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